Health
THE management of the Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Kware, Sokoto State, says it renders specialised services that are cheaper, patient-friendly and affordable to citizens.
The Hospital’s Medical Director, Prof. Shehu Sale, stated this in an interview with the newsmen on Monday in Sokoto.
Sale, a Consultant Psychiatrist, promised to remain steadfast in determination to always provide affordable and excellent services to patients.
He commended President Muhammadu Buhari and Minister of Health for their support and encouragement to the management during its facelift and upgrading of the facility.
The medical director said the hospital currently hosted 17 visiting consultants, who were specialists in different medical fields.
He said there were also resident doctors and other health professionals such as pharmacists, nurses, clinical psychologists, occupational therapists, laboratory scientists, working together as a team to provide efficient services.
“ The hospital has world-class equipment such as mobile digital x-ray machine, mobile ultrasound machine, ultrasonography machine, digitalised medical and diagnostic records system, occupational therapy equipment and modern laboratory tools.”
He disclosed that the Federal Government had also funded new major projects in its COVID-19 interventions at the hospital.
These, he said, included equipping of intensive care unit, construction and equipping of molecular laboratory, isolation centre and procurement of Personal Protective Equipment.
He said the completed projects were already impacting positively on service delivery and protection of both staff and patients of the hospital.
According to him, the projects will also deliver improved healthcare to the hard-to-reach communities, in line with the government’s commitment to provide essential healthcare services.
Sale said total bed space and staff strength had been increased, while the restoration of full accreditation status to the Post-Basic Psychiatric Nursing School at the hospital had been done.
He said patients feeding system, laundry, drugs administration, sanitation of hospital environment had been ensured to best standards while workers welfare was prioritised as accorded by unions.
He further explained that in the past five years, the management renovated and upgraded all wards, including administrative block and staff quarters in the hospital to modern standards.
It has also embarked on the construction of gates, perimeter fence, road networks, street lighting, laboratories and pharmacy.
He explained that the hospital provided integrated healthcare services to the people through digitalised finance and administrative record system, along with a steady solar-powered and conventional electricity supply.
He added that Federal Government had awarded another contract for the construction of the Regional Women and Children Drug Dependence Treatment Centre in the hospital, which would cater for diverse health needs of the vulnerable sub-population.
He added that the centre, along with the established family health clinic, would address the negative perception of people with regards to mental health issues and reduce stigma, associated with hospital services.
Sale, a master trainer with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, expressed optimism that the clinics would strengthen mental healthcare delivery in the country, noting that the stigma associated with mental health, discouraged people from seeking help.
On hospital transformation, the Medical Director explained that rates of hospital services had been readjusted to complement the advancements in the society in terms of consumables, reagents and other situational changes.
He noted that management had automated hospital services in line with global best practices from centralised payment system, medical diagnostics, doctors’ consultations and overall medical records.
Sale said the transformation had necessitated internal postings of most competent personnel, realignment of cadres along with support for advance trainings, to suit the needed services.
According to him, the progress made so far in the hospital, especially in terms of upgrading existing facilities and consolidation of skilled manpower development, are all facilitated by the Federal Ministry of Health which is the mother supervising ministry.
” Recently the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission has supported the hospital with patients’ rehabilitation and empowerment equipment.
” The gesture was aimed at promoting a public health approach towards addressing substance use disorders by providing equipment and services that would enhance treatment and recovery of people with substance use disorders.
” It was based on guided reports of the 2019 ECOWAS Empirical Survey on Substance Use Treatment in member states and the National Drug Use Survey conducted, ” he added. (NAN)
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Tags: Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Prof. Shehu Sale United Nations
